The Public’s Awareness to
Vegetarianism Heightened from
Young to Old

Combined report by Korean News Groups (Originally in Korean)

Seoul

On May 14, Golden Year 3 (2006), Seoul Center had a big celebration at Myong-dong, the busiest, most crowded shopping mall in Seoul, to celebrate Master’s birthday and to spread Her message of Alternative Living.

After a short silent prayer for our animal friends who have been sacrificed for human beings, some short songs were performed by our young sisters and brothers for the birthday celebration.

To follow Master’s shining example of sharing and caring, a lot of vegetarian food was prepared and offered free of charge to about 1,500 people. The amount of food each person received was not just a simple sampling but enough for a lunch meal with delicious “soy meats”.

It was an unprecedented offering, and the response was also remarkable. In only two hours, about 900 people voluntarily signed the “Love Life - 10 Million - Signatures Collection Campaign.” They said that the soy meat was much better than the real meat, that it’s good for preventing adult diseases, and that it reminds us of the importance of life. A knowledgeable man also said, “Too much energy is consumed in the production of meat. If we become vegetarian, this energy is saved, so vegetarianism is good.”

People also showed interest in Master’s teachings, as they viewed the paintings, News magazines and sample booklets that we had displayed.

After all the food had been distributed, we walked along the downtown streets with placards that explained why vegetarianism is good. This promotion of Master’s Alternative Living message also received a good response from the public.

On May 16, thirty 6-year old kids from Shindang 4-dong Kindergarten had a field trip to the SM Vegetarian Buffet at Seoul Center. They were learning about soybeans and visited our restaurant to learn more about soy meat.

The kindergarten gave us very short notice regarding their visit. But because fellow initiates had already been trained in how to promote the vegetarian diet through the various Alternative Living projects, in just a short time animal costumes, cute placards, balloons, etc., suitable for kids were prepared to welcome the young guests.

While enjoying the vegetarian soy meats with these fun animal-costume friends, kids were able to learn about love for animals and the good taste of soy meats. The buffet provided various soy meat foods that children love, at a very low price for them. Kids loved the ‘loving replacement foods’ and asked for more and more.

The kindergarten director Shim Eun-Ju said, “Children are only into instant foods. We came here to teach them that soybeans can be made into foods that taste like meat. They love it. Thank you so much.”

On May 18, Seoul Center set up a booth at Yonsei University’s festival and actively advertised the advantages of vegetarianism to the university students, other students and guests who visited the festival. As Yonsei is one of the leading universities in Korea and is in a good location, its festival attracts huge crowds. About 15 brothers and sisters joined the festival. Free vegetarian food samples and the Alternative Living flyers were given to the people. Thanks to Master’s wonderful arrangement, the best booth location was given to us, right near the main entrance of the university. Everyone could see Master’s message clearly and received it immediately.

As the audience was young people, open-minded with fewer preconceptions, they accepted the idea well, and initiates also felt very happy about the good response. About 1,500 people had samplings of the food, and 950 of them signed the “Love Life - 10 Million - Signatures Collection Campaign.”

The students will become the future leaders of our society, and we were happy to see them open to and accepting this new life style. This shows that the world is stepping into a brighter future.

Gwangju

April 22, was Earth Day’s 37th Anniversary. Every year in Gwangju, about 30 organizations gather together in front of the provincial government office to celebrate that day. This time the Gwangju Center actively participated in the event with the theme “Vegetarianism and the Environment”.

However on the morning of the event, it began to rain and everything was canceled. Nevertheless fellow practitioners still wished to proceed with their planned activities because the prepared food wouldn’t keep. So they moved to the downtown area and started around noon when the rain eased up. After receiving the flyers and vegetarian burgers, people showed a good response. They also signed in support of vegetarianism. With Master’s blessings, and the help of the Daejeon initiates, the work went smoothly.

Even though Earth Day had been rained out, many were still anxious to celebrate the event. So on April 30, with good weather this time, about 30 organizations displayed a variety of exhibits regarding the environment on Geumnam-ro Avenue, the city’s main boulevard. The sisters and brothers filled their booth with vegetarian paraphernalia and offered different activities. They wore T-shirts with the Alternative Living content printed on them and did a stage performance of the ‘Compass Dance’, a popular dance in fashion in Korea.

What was especially nice was that the Mayor of Gwangju City visited our booth, signed the “Love Life - 10 Million - Signatures Collection Campaign”, posed for pictures with his hand holding a placard that said, “Mom! Please raise me as a vegetarian.” He praised us for doing this good work to help our world become a better place.

Mayor of Gwangju City signing and having pictures taken with us.

Through this event, many people gained valuable information on the environment of the Earth, as well as on vegetarianism. We hope that their consciousness has been awakened more about the respect for all life.

On May 14, the Gwangju Center, along with an organization that had previously participated in the Earth Day event on April 22, conducted an Alternative Living publicity campaign at a small park called Ssamji.

At the venue, people not only enjoyed the cultural performance and vegetarian sampling, but also were given information on vegetarianism and the opportunity to sign in support of this noble compassionate practice. The message was very well received.

Busan

On April 30, fellow initiates from Seoul and Young Dong Center joined us to promote an active event at the Busan Train Station.

This train station is the final stop of the Express Train from Seoul. It is always crowded and the area also has many on-going public relations and social activities. Our initiates started as two groups. The one that distributed the leaflets dressed up as cute animal characters or decorated themselves with beautiful fruit & vegetable hats and accessories. Even though people were very preoccupied with their schedules, they still happily accepted the leaflets from our smiling brightly clothed fellow initiates. The other group set up a vegetarian food sampling booth. All were delighted and amazed that these delicious foods were actually not meat but made from soy. Also they were deeply impressed by the fact our Association is not seeking any profit making but just trying to protect our world's environment and our animal friends’ lives. So those understanding visitors signed their names on the "Love Life – 10 Million - Signatures Collection Campaign".

Just after we had started our activities, there was another eye-catching group. They played lively music and danced in tripping footsteps. It was to support the Korean soccer team in winning the World Cup. The dancers encouraged others to dance with them, so our fellow initiates, in their brilliant costumes, began to join them. Some animal-character initiates wore banners printed with 'Prevent Bird Flu, Mad Cow Disease', and other initiates wore t-shirts with 'Love Life, Practice Vegetarianism' on them. Naturally, a lot more interest from people was attracted than before, more interest in the vegetarian food, as well as in the dancing. The leader of that group thanked us “the Vegetarian Lovers’ Group” for our participation.

Also at this time, with great happiness, we prepared and distributed vegetarian lunch boxes to the homeless.

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